CIAM Annual Congress 2016

London was the destination for more than 70 creators to attend the annual CIAM Congress. The two-day agenda included overviews on safe harbour, the transfer of value, international relations and EU copyright directives followed by updates from Asia-Pacific and Africa. Eddie Schwartz updated the group on the progress made to date on the “Fair Trade Music” project, including the launch of the campaign’s new website at www.fairtrademusicinternational.org, before splitting the room into four workshop groups to analyse the strategic implications of the campaign. A panel moderated by PRS Deputy Chairman and CIAM Co-Vice Chair Simon Darlow  followed before IMPF President Pierre Mossiat discussed the relationship between composers and independent publishers, from the independent publisher perspective.

The second day opened with a presentation by Writers & Directors Worldwide President Yves Nilly, who described the organisation’s progress on “The Audiovisual Campaign”. He was then joined by other filmmakers and film score composers for a panel that discussed ways for all audiovisual creators to further cooperate in the future. UK songwriter Imogen Heap gave a live performance to a standing ovation before presenting an overview of how blockchain technology can influence the creation and distribution of music (more detail is available at http://myceliaformusic.org). The presentation was followed by a workshop on potential opportunities of this decentralised database technology. IP consultant Amanda Harcourt shared a review of differences and similarities between genres as well as the working lives of composers and performers.

The meeting concluded with Lorenzo Ferrero and La GAM (la Guilde des Artistes de la Musique) Executive Manager Suzanne Combo taking the stage for a final Q&A panel before closing the congress.

(Image © Jason Dodd 2016)